Typhoon slams China with heavy rains, forcing 1.1 million to evacuate

People are splashed by sea waves strengthened by Typhoon Chan-hom at the seacoast of Qingdao in east China’s Shandong province Sunday, July 12, 2015.

Chinese authorities have evacuated more than 960,000 people and cancelled hundreds of flights as a typhoon with wind gusts of up to 200kmph hit the country’s southeastern coast.

More than 400 flights at the city’s two airports were cancelled, along with 330 long-distance bus journeys and several trains, according to reports.

It was forecast to make landfall in Zhejiang on Saturday in the afternoon, striking near the port city of Ningbo before approaching Shanghai.

The website yesterday showed a composite of Pacific satellite images with seven systems stretching from Mexico to China in a typhoon “conga line”.

Pedestrians hold their umbrellas against strong winds as Typhoon Chan-Hom hits Shanghai, China, July 11, 2015.

China’s national weather service said earlier the typhoon might be the strongest to strike China since the communist government took power in 1949.

Fujian, south of Zhejiang, has evacuated more than 30,000 people and Jiangsu over 46,000.

Typhoon Chan-hom battered the region Friday with winds of up to 100 mph and about a month’s average of rain in less than 24 hours, the Associated Press reported.

No casualties have been reported.

As of 3 p.m. Saturday, some 1.07 million people in the province had been evacuated and 29,641 ships recalled to port. The water level of 51 large and medium-sized reservoirs had exceeded the danger level.

Neighboring Jiangsu province also felt some of the effects of Chan-Hom. Authorities in Zhejang have issued a back to port order to thousands of ships in the province. Airline passengers in other cities have also been affected by the flight cancellations.

Mesmerizing views of Chan-hom-as well as the smaller but even stronger Typhoon Nangka, which could make landfall in Japan next week-are being provided by Japan’s new ultra-high-resolution Himawari-8 weather satellite, tucked safely 22,000 miles above Earth.